President Donald Trump endured probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC – but stormed out angrily when confronted about his baseless claims of election fraud.
“You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s stop it because I’ve had enough. Thank you, baby. Have a good time,” Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker before getting up and walking out of the interview, which aired Sunday.
The interview, which was filmed on Friday, was conducted at a farm in Wisconsin where Trump addressed farmers. A tractor and hay bales served as a backdrop.
The interview was interrupted several times by weather and sound problems, as heavy rain hit the roof, making it difficult to continue the conversation.
“Is it wind or what?” Trump asked at one point.
“Do you hear that sound?” he said later. “The sound of thunder, lightning, rain.”
Welker asked his technical crew if they should stop.
“No. People will understand – we’re on a farm,” the president replied.
Several questions followed about Iran, nuclear weapons and his campaign promises to keep the United States out of foreign wars.
“First of all, I didn’t guarantee any war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” he said, then accused Welker of being “a great liberal, a great progressive.”
“No, I’m just a journalist,” she replied.
Trump went on to say, “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”
The tone escalated again when the discussion turned to Trump’s proposed taxpayer-funded program to compensate people he believes were victims of partisan prosecution under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to the arms fund,” he said. “I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden … they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.”
“There’s no evidence for what you’re saying,” Welker said.
Trump repeated earlier false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” and said last week’s California primary was as well.
Welker stood his ground and asked the president to produce evidence.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump finally shot back before leaving the camera’s view as Welker tried to keep him engaged.
On Sunday, Welker told viewers that she had spoken to Trump on Saturday about the weather disturbances and that he had agreed to give her another interview.
